At the Picnic Table Full of Nails and Screws
by doramatikku
Summary: Riku x Sora Riku's been saving up his courage to actually talk to Sora, the boy he's been watching from afar for the past two months. But things don't go as planned. One thing always leads to another and... When will Riku ever get the chance to talk to So
1. Kiss

At a Picnic Table Full of Nails and Screws

Disclaimer- I don't down any of the KH characters, nor Tidus, nor do I own a picnic table full of nails and screws.

At a picnic table full of nails and screws, Riku watched (from a safe distance) as Sora sat on the swing. The chains creaked and moaned like zombies awakening from their graves as Sora gently rocked forward and back, waiting ever so patiently.

What was he waiting for? For almost two months, Riku sat at this exact same spot, watching as Sora came and went. But never did Riku summon enough courage to talk to the boy.

Because Sora always seemed to be in the middle of something.

The first time RIku saw him, Sora was having a picnic with a few of his friends; a week later, he was out playing with his dog, and then just last week, Sora was doing community service, picking up piles of litter from underneath the rusted bridge with the community clean-up crew. Today was the best chance Riku had to finally talk to the boy, and ultimately (just maybe) win his heart.

Carefully, Riku stood up. He dusted his pants twice, pounding away the presence of dust that might have settled on his black Dickies, then he ran his fingers through his silver hair before finally deciding to take a step. And then another. Then another.

Everything was going swell; Sora hadn't noticed him yet and there was no one at the park to distract Sora or ruin Riku's chance of making his move, his very first move. Riku swallowed the thick lump that had clogged itself in his throat. Never before had Riku done something as bold as this. Then again, there had never been someone like Sora, someone who Riku was dying to meet. Whenever Sora walked past him, whether it was to pick up trash, or the yellow chew toy his dog had blindly missed, Riku's senses went on overdrive as he inhaled the other boy's sweet scent, the smell of fresh cleanness temporarily paralyzing him. It was like love at first sight, and the impulse to just grab Sora and take him on the picnic table was slowly eating away at Riku's otherwise rational mind. His thoughts became dirty, his desires stronger, and dammit, all of his dreams were plagued by the brown haired boy, someone who he had barely known.

Almost there.

Step after step led Riku closer to Sora. His heart was thumping so wildly, he could feel it lodging up his throat as his mind scrambled for a pick-up line.

"Hey hot stuff."

No, much too cheesy. Instead of getting Sora's attention, it'd probably scare him off.

"You busy Friday night?"

That was equally as cheesy as the first one! And much too forward. What if Sora didn't like guy's with egos that matched the size of Miyavi's?

"Hello, waiting for someone?"

Too stalker-like.

Riku was just a few inches away from Sora (just close enough to get a whiff of his clean scent), when Sora suddenly sprang up from the swing, bouncing and waving his hand high above his head as he waved to the person in the distance. Unfortunately, Sora was so excited, he was oblivious to the fact that when he jumped off the swing, he sent it flying backwards.The metal contraption swung with full force, aiming towards Riku (who was still lost in thought), still trying to come up with the perfect pick-up line. His reflexes were on vacation and he didn't even notice the swing as it raged towards him, finally hitting him ...

...right on the target.

Riku winced as his body staggered, both his hands went to the zipper of his pants as the painfully throbbing ache between his legs flashed across his mind. He watched Sora call out to Tidus (the boy in the distance) with a pang of jealousy mixed into the pain that vibrated over and over. Getting hit with the swing when he was off guard hurt like running into a pole: it was intense at first, but eventually it dulled out. However, watching Sora run towards the other boy when Riku was in such pain (and embarrassment as the elderly couple stared at him from the park bench) made him hurt even more. Awkwardly, Riku made his way back to his picnic table, the one full of nails and screws. Dammit, a missed chance and a crunch in the nuts.

He watched with envy as Sora ran into the arms of the blond boy, the same boy who had a locker next to him in the boys' locker room at school. Sure, Tidus had a nice body, Riku noticed that whenever they had to change out of their swimming trunks at school, but why would Sora fall for a guy like that? A boy who was such a pushover? What did Tidus have that Riku didn't have?

Not only was it inconceivable to picture Sora liking a boy who was so damn passive, it was down right frustrating to see Sora laughing and giggling as Tidus handed him a box of chocolate, wrapped in such a delicate silk ribbon, it must have been worth bundles of money.

Great, not only was Tidus a pushover, but apparently Sora would be lavished with top-of-the-line gifts.

Cursing, Riku kicked the round pebble that lay by his feet. He cursed the (unintentional) physical pain that Sora had caused him, he cursed the emotional heartbreak that he was now enduring; he cursed the wrong timing, and everything in sight from the elderly couple who stared at him to the damn swing for obeying the laws of physics and hitting him I down there /I .

Nearly collapsing into a pile of angst ridden grief over the misfortunes of the day, Riku became unaware of the sounds of footsteps trotting up to him. It had completely caught him off guard when Sora suddenly appeared at his side, offering him the same box of chocolates that Tidus had given to him only moments before.

"Hi, I'm Sora." The boy smiled meekly as he pushed the box of chocolates towards Riku with his lithe arm. Then he sat down opposite of Riku, watching Riku's expressionless face as he stared at the box of chocolates.

There was a lump the size of Titanic lodged up in Riku's throat, nearly preventing him from saying anything intelligible. It was almost a miracle that he somehow managed to say something back.

"I'm Riku, nice to meet you."

After weeks of silently stalking Sora (though Riku wouldn't call it 'stalking' per se, but rather, observing), there he was actually giving him a box of chocolates!

"I know. Umm..." Sora's face turned bright red as he averted his eyes from Riku's daunting gaze, focusing instead on the numerous nails and screws embedded into the wooden picnic table. Inside Riku's mind, everything went haywire.

'Why isn't he looking at me?' Riku thought, his toes now tapping obsessively underneath the table, gathering dust and dirt inside his shoe as he panicked again, 'Is there something in my teeth? Or is it my breath? Oh crap, it's not from the lunch I had earlier, is it? Because I swear that piece of garlic bread was begging me to eat it. Look at me, Sora, what's wrong? Did I do something? Do I smell? OH FUCKING SHIT, I forgot to put on deodorant today!'

"I heard..." Sora started, his eyes still looking away from Riku, "from Tifa, who's friends with my cousin Tidus, that you really like chocolates. And I really want to get to know you better, so I've been kind of, sort of watching you at this park and you were always doing something, like reading or writing something, so I thought you were busy and that's why I didn't do this sooner, but I really, really like you and--"

Sora stopped for a pause, closing his eyes shut as he inhaled a deep breath before releasing the rest of his grammatically incorrect sentence.

"--I was wondering if you'd like to catch a movie together on Friday at 8, at the theater two blocks away from the bookstore, but it's okay if you don't want to go seeing how this is kind of weird because I'm a guy asking you out and you're obviously a guy, unless you secretly have really flat breasts underneath that shirt of yours, but if you don't, that's okay because I still like you anyway-"

"Sure."

Sora looked up, finally ripping his focus away from the screws and nails to finally look Riku in the eyes for the first time.

Did this really happen? Is it really happening? Riku felt giddy as his mind registered Sora's gawky confession, Was sora, the boy that he had been obsessing over, actually asking him out? Did Sora also just confess to going to the park, just to see Riku?

I OmgthisbetternotbeadreamorelseI'lldie. /I 

Sora smiled jovially, his face lighting up like a little boy. "Okay, See you then!" The boy quickly leaned over the table to give Riku a speedy little kiss, and though it lasted a mere two seconds, Riku felt tingles trailing down his spine.

But before Sora could fully pull away, Riku pulled on his red shirt and gave him a second kiss. With his lips pressed tightly on Sora's, Riku savored the moment that he had only envisioned so many times before.

And all of this happened at the picnic table full of mails and screws, where Riku used to stare after Sora.

Notes: If I can get off my lazy bum fast enough, I should be able to give this one another chapter before July ends. This one was written for Phackie.


	2. Ready, Steady, GO!

This is where he's sitting now, at a shady corner hidden in the sushi restaurant, waiting for his best friend to finish up her shift before he could finally tell her what happened to him.

But she was out somewhere, working the tables, managing the bills, or maybe making sushi for the customers over at the bar.

Riku had to laugh. The thought of Kairi doing anything that involves creating, cooking, or cutting was just too much to handle; the poor girl could barely make her own cup of tea without tearing down the kitchen. Needless to say, she wasn't a very good cook, but she did have a way with the people. That was one of the reasons why he liked her, other than the fact that they had been childhood friends since they were infants. Maybe the fact that Riku's mother and Kairi's mother were best friends (forever) since high school also had something to do with the fact that they became fast friends, but hey, who's counting?

After what had seemed to be an eternity of sitting alone in a booth and sipping cola, Kairi finally appeared from outside the kitchen, her pony tail oddly misshapen and the pocket in her apron dangling with the sound of coins and a slight flash of green.

"That big party over there gives really good tips." She huffed, sweat pouring down her temples.

"Yeah, I can tell."

"So, what's up?"

Kairi sat down on the red cushion of the booth, her hand slowly slithering over to grab Riku's drink while he watched in annoyance as she snatched it away and finished up what was left of it. Then she looked at him expectantly, waiting for time to tell her the news.

"I ... met someone. You know that guy that I kept telling you about? The one at the park--"

"'--With the pretty brown hair, a color much sweeter than chocolate, that is so cute because it constantly spikes up in random places, and not to mention that he has the most beautiful eyes.' Yes, you've told me." She smirked, watching Riku slowly blush.

"I'm going out on a date with him this Friday."

"Ahh, the budding of a first love! Rikky-poo, I'm so proud of you!" She mocked, punching Riku lightly on the shoulder, "You got over your fear and asked him out! For this achievement, I'll buy you a sundae at the ice cream shop next door and we'll celebrate!"

"Actually, he asked me out. I just sat there and said yes." Sheepishly, Riku blushed, his fingers fighting with each other as he nervously waited for Kairi to react. He could feel the lecture rumbling from beneath the earth, it's massive force was something to be reckoned with.

"You what? Haven't I told you that no one likes a pushover? You gotta be confident! You have to be cocky sometimes to get what you want, otherwise someone else just might steal it away from you!" Kairi's voice elevated as she became absorbed in her speech, her hands clenched in emotional fists as she banged on the table and passionately lectured Riku about his passiveness. "You may have been lucky this time, but who knows? Next time, you might not be so lucky!"

"So what should I do?"

"You need to be confident! By the way, what was his name again?"

"Sora." Riku said, his tongue cleanly pronouncing the two syllables, letting the name ring out loud and clear.

"Last name? Come on, give me the details!" Kairi's face broke out in a sly smile as he prodded Riku with her finger. It was just like to her act like such a ... a girl! Not that Riku minded much; even if she was slightly annoying, she was always full of good advice that she gathered from the young women's magazines. There was no way that Riku would be caught dead reading those dratted things.

"I don't know what his last name is, but I do know that he has a cousin named Tidus."

"...Are you serious?" Her face dropped and the color melted from her livid face as she stared at Riku in disbelief. Then she coughed, a loud and hacking dry cough, as she diverted her eyes from Riku and turned to stare at the blue carpet instead.

"Kairi, what's wrong? You look like you're a zombie." He had seen this before. Kairi only adverts her eyes when she knows something and doesn't want to tell anyone. By not looking at their faces, Kairi tries to avoid the subject all together. Riku knows this, that's why he's worried.

"Did I ever tell you about the four guys at my school that are fabulously popular, filthy rich, freakin' smart, and so fu--"

"--cking beautiful, yes I know. The Famous Four that happen to rule over your school by dominating the academics, the school government, sports, and who knows what else. What about them?" Riku rolled his eyes; he had heard so many stories about them from Kairi, from how rich four boys were (supposedly they'll be billionaires at the tender age of eighteen), to how smart they were (each one excelling in either math, science, history, or English and each one of them was a top student in their own right), to how chiseled their body and facial structures were (one of then had won a pageant), and finally, to how popular they were, popular to win any election that involved the voice of the students at school. Of course Riku had heard of them, where was no one in this city who hadn't!

"Sora's one of them."

"He's what?" Riku stared at Kairi, wondering if this was revenge for what he did at her last birthday party. No matter how many times he told her that the jelly somehow climbed into her shoe, she never believed him. Her face was so still, it was etched in stone, and her face, still livid and deathly. After a few moments on this intense silent, Riku relaxed a bit, allowed himself to slink into the booth, "I mean, so what if he's in that Famous Four? From what I heard, these guys don't sound so bad."

"Riku, you've never been to my school. You don't know the havoc those guys cause." Kairi sighed and then inhaled, breathing what seemed to be her first breath in ages. Then, she started again, this time her voice was in a low deep voice, sounded like it came from misesteems hidden in the depths of the sea. "Have you read 'Hana Yori Dango'? You know, that one manga..."

Riku shook his head and Kairi sighed even louder.

"It's this story about this poor girl who goes to this rich elite school that's controlled by the Four Flowery Boys who are super rich, therefore they make nearly all the decisions in the school and stuff. They also target those that they don't like by placing a red tag on their locker and once the rest of the school sees that red tag on someone's locker, that person becomes a social outcast at that school, being constantly bullied on and seen as trash. That's what happens to the heroine." Again, she sighed. "And that's what happens at our school."

"So you're telling me that my love interest is part of the Famous Four, a group of notorious boys who are rich, popular, smart, and prettier than any girl I've ever met--"

"I resent that." Kairi interjected.

"--and that I should be careful around Sora because he could be a big meanie like those guys in that manga you've read?"

"Riku, you're my best friend. I just don't want you to get hurt."

It was Riku's turn to sigh. He stared at the newfangled lamp that was dangling from the ceiling and tried to digest this new revelation that Kairi had bestowed upon him. Surely it won't be that bad. Sora seemed like such a nice person at the park, he didn't look like he had a bad bone in him. And that part about the swinging hitting Riku didn't count, because that was unintentional.

"I'll keep your words in mind Kairi, thanks."

"You're welcome, so are we still going to get a sundae to celebrate? After all, this is your first date, even if you didn't do the asking. My treat!"

Riku smiled. "Sure, and I want a double scoop on mine!"

- - - - - - - - - -

Sora sat in the cafe of the bookstore, calmly sipping his (highly caffeine) coffee concoction while scanning through a rather large and impressive book. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Cloud walking up to him, with bags of clothes from the Armani Exchange in hand.

"Sora, we're not in school today, so you can stop playing smart for now." He took a glance at the book and then cringed, "You're reading a book on past world civilizations?"

"Yep. I find the world of samurais and sword fighting just so exciting. Especially," Sora lifted a comic book that was buried deep within the pages of the world history textbook, "if it's fictional."

"Smart. I always knew my friend was a genius in disguise."

"Only if I have to be." He smiled as he took another sip, then moved a chair for Cloud to sit.

"Come on, we gotta go. The other two are waiting for us. By the way, where were you yesterday? I called your house and you weren't home, and then I called your cell, but you turned it off."

Sora shook the contents of his drink, watching as the ice mixed over with the coffee until everything became a creamy, sort of murky brown liquid. "I was out, in the park."

"Doing what?"

"Something. Are you ready to go or should I leave you here?" He stood up, leaving his reading material on the table with the hordes of napkins that he had taken earlier and the outer wrapping of the straw crunched furiously into a ball. Then the two of them left the bookstore and headed out to meet the other two.

----

Notes: I'm in a dilemma. I don't know who the other two members of the "Famous Four" should be. And ... I totally ripped off that idea from Hana Yori Dango, so HYD fans, don't kill me.

(You know, if you add a 'E' to HYD, you get HYDE. :D Sorry, I'm a HYDE fan.)

So email me if you see any errors that I have missed, or if you have any questions. Just be sure to put in the subject "KH FICTION" or something so it'll grab my attention. Don't worry, I don't bite.


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